New Sleeping Arrangements

A couple of weeks ago we finally got some bunk beds for the girls so we could move Kateri into their room and out of what us attachment-parenting folks call "the family bed." You would have thought it was Christmas morning based on the level of excitement in the house. We had to assemble the bed ourselves, so I forbade the girls to set foot in their room until construction was finished. They wedged themselves in the doorway to watch what turned out to be a long and frustrating process of assembling the bunk bed almost completely, realizing that the instructions were terrible and we had put a crucial piece in wrong, disassembling the beds almost completely, than reassembling them properly. There were a few tense moments in there brought on by the fact that Luke thinks I am just as strong as he is despite the fact that he is twice my size and I have carried three of his Luke-sized babies to term (and then some,) which did not exactly work wonders for the strength of my core muscle groups. Anyway, to make a long story short, I dropped something I was supposed to be holding steady, there was a horrible, ominous splintering sound, Luke contemplated divorcing me, the damage turned out to be negligible, Luke decided he'd keep me around, and the bunk beds were finished! Hooray! The girls are happily squished together in one room now...sort of.

Kateri mainly enjoys pretending to sleep in her new bed.

She spends the first half of the night there before I hear her fat little feet slap-slapping on the tile in the hallway right back to the family bed.

Lili and Audrey, however, couldn't be happier with the new arrangements.

Audrey...

Audrey had a bit of a rocky week in school. She has yet to have actually had her card turned from green, thank goodness, but on Tuesday, she was stripped of the coveted title of "line-leader" after goofing off in Chapel. Under questioning, she confessed to me that she lost the privilege because she "Accidentally put a Rosary on John Paul's head." Right. Then, yesterday, her class received sad faces on their charts. If there is a punishment worse than living with the knowledge that you have made your sweet and saintly kindergarten teacher sad, let me know. Seriously, Mrs. Hundelt is probably the kindest, most patient person I have ever met. True story: when Lili was in kindergarten I once had a terrifying vivid nightmare in which I said the f-word (a word I'm pretty sure I've never said in my life) in front of Mrs. Hundelt. It was awful. I woke up in a cold sweat, completely horrified, telling myself over and over again, "It was just a dream. It didn't really happen."

So anyway, I was a bit frustrated at Audrey for becoming a repeat offender this week, so it did my heart good to find her snuggled up with Kateri on her own initiative. She has actually rocked her little sister to sleep a couple of times. I guess I'll keep her around, repeat offender or not.

Sometimes it's hard to wake up...

Kateri usually needs a little snuggling session on the rocking chair when she wakes up from her nap. It helps her ease back into being fully awake and after a few minutes of rocking she can greet the world with a smile instead of a whine. A couple of days ago she took a late nap and so I was making dinner when she woke up. Audrey saw I had my hands full and volunteered to rock her sister. I was surprised when Kateri accepted her as a substitute and buried her little face in Audrey's neck for a good five minutes.

The little episode of sweet sisterly love made my day.

The Pillar of the Cloud

In honor of Cardinal John Henry Newman's beatification, Lili's third grade teacher had them memorize " The Pillar of the Cloud" as homework. Have I mentioned how much I love her school?

Kateri

Kateri has been getting toddler lessons in Religion from Lili.

Goodbye Summer

Going...

...going...

...gone...

Goodbye to summer! It sure was a great one...

...but the school year is off to a great start. Audrey is already absorbing a lot in Kindergarten. Last night Luke caught her out of bed kneeling in front of her nightlight. Upon questioning, she revealed she was out of bed praying to her nightlight because, "Mrs. Hundelt told me Jesus is the light of the world."

There's just something about their Dad...

...that inspires confidence in my girls. The last two times I have tried to take Kateri on a carousel she has flat our refused and clung to me (or Nanny) as she watched the terrifying horses whirl by. Yet on one afternoon during our Newport trip, she didn't even bat an eye when Luke asked her if she wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel with him. (If you scrutinize the orange car in the picture above, you might glimpse a portion of a tiny blond pigtail sticking up next to Luke.)
Anyway, it reminded me of this summer in Boston, where Audrey was not keen on trying to boogie board until the week Luke came, after which she had no problem face-planting in the gravel every other wave. It makes me wonder whether this is some virtue inherent in his big strong dependable persona. Maybe said persona just overshadows my worrying, neurotic one....

...you know the one that wouldn't let them hang over the rail because when they leaned over I had visions of them toppling off of this pier into the heaving swells below: that neurotic persona. Thank the good Lord I have Luke to balance me out with his confidence. It's just one of the many qualities I am grateful for in my dear husband. When he's with us, we all feel as though the dangers of the world don't really stand a chance.

Plus, he buys us ice cream.